Freshman wide receiver Ricky Smalling playing big for Illinois this season

Wednesday

Nov 8, 2017 at 4:26 PM

By Matt Gertsmeier of GateHouse Media Illinois

CHAMPAIGN — With three football games left for Illinois, Ricky Smalling would need to play out of his mind to etch his name in the record book for freshman wide receiver achievements.

Most of the accolades belong to his teammate, Mike Dudek. Smalling would need to average about 207 receiving yards, 17 catches and just over one touchdown per game to tie Dudek’s freshman receiving records.

While Smalling may not break any records this season, he's confident he’ll leave a lasting legacy.

“I want to be one of the best receivers to ever play at the University of Illinois,” Smalling said.

After the Illini started the season off with a commitment to the run, the transition to a more balanced offense has resulted in Smalling getting more involved. Smalling leads Illinois in receiving yards with 415, averaging about 46 yards per game. His two touchdowns tie tight end Louis Dorsey for most on the team.

Through the first two games of the year, Smalling was almost nonexistent. He combined for two catches for eight yards on three targets against Ball State and Western Kentucky.

In the third week against South Florida Smalling, accumulated 99 receiving yards on three catches. His performance against the Bulls included his career-long reception — 76 yards on a third-quarter connection from Jeff George Jr.

Smalling has been aiming for numbers like that all season.

“That was my goal,” Smalling said. “I want to come in and make plays and when you make plays they can’t deny you. They have to give you the ball.”

Since the Illini have made the quarterback switch from Chayce Crouch to Cam Thomas and George, Smalling is averaging about 59 receiving yards and just shy of four catches per game.

Through that span, Smalling recorded his career high for receiving yards against Rutgers with 111 and his career high for catches against Minnesota with eight.

“He’s a playmaker for sure,” George said. “He’s a guy that wants to win, he wants to go out there and make a play and wants the ball thrown to him. It’s nice to have a guy with that mindset.”

George has 81 completions for 1,012 yards and Smalling has become one of his top targets. Since the initial quarterback change against Iowa, Smalling has 19 receptions, leading Illinois in that category.

Smalling has given confidence to his quarterbacks to seek him on specific matchups.

“When I see it’s one-on-one with him and a DB, I feel like I've got to get the ball in the area,” George said. “I feel like he’s got the tool set and the skill set to find a way to bring it down.”

While it seems like the game has come natural to him, Smalling admits the adjustment to his first year in the college game has been a challenge. Adapting to the faster speed has been one of Smalling’s biggest takeaways.

Smalling is hoping to apply the tendencies and observations he has had so far in his final three games of the season.

“(You need to) catch on to stuff throughout the game to help you perform better later on in the game,” Smalling said. “When you’re dead tired and you can just work off the technique and you know what he’s going to do.”

As a three-star recruit on 247sports.com, Smalling had 1,165 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns in his junior year at Chicago Brother Rice. As a senior, he had 80 receptions for 1,336 yards and 18 touchdowns.

His play in high school sparked interest from many colleges but, just 48 days after Lovie Smith was hired by Illinois, Smalling became the first recruit to commit to the new era of Illinois football.

Smith said Smalling emits a presence that makes it feel like he’s been at Illinois for many years rather than just about four months. Part of that feeling might be related to the unofficial visits Smalling took to Illinois after he verbally committed.

“Ricky saw the bigger picture right away,” Smith said. “You want a guy like that to come in and have success,” Smith said. “We told Ricky, 'We’re building, it’s a new day, come on board and you’ll get a chance to play early.' Everything I think we told him could happen has happened.”

Matt Gertsmeier can be reached at mattgertsmeier@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGertsmeier

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